The Over Sized Ego Returns
by QuaintEssence
Summary: “Ron had just reminded Harry forcibly of another Gryffindor Quidditch player who had once sat rumpling his hair under this very tree." The relevance portrayed between Ron Weasley and James Potter is uncanny, and in sixth year, inevitable.
1. Default Chapter

The Over-Sized Ego Returns

"Ron had just reminded Harry forcibly of another Gryffindor Quidditch player who had once sat rumpling his hair under this very tree."

A/N: Once I read this part in OotP, I completely fell in love with it. I adore the idea of Lily and James, and I foresee this for Ron and Hermione. Perhaps not quite as Love/Hate as the infamous Potters.. but, as I aforementioned, tis inevitable.

Disclaimer: I do not own the wonderful words of J.K.Rowling

The evening grew dark as Hermione sat next to a large oak tree, her knees tucked comfortably under her. She watched as her two friends ascended and descended throughout the Quidditch Pitch, among several other teammates. Through the waning sunlight she could make out Ron succeeding in a rather difficult block, his face smug with contempt as he returned it to the chaser. Harry swerved in and out of the goal posts, sending him a grin of congratulations.

At Ron's aloof grin, Hermione frowned. Not only a year ago, she would've been overjoyed that he was so happy. He needed it then. She understood how his family was, how hard it was for him to shine. She knew how much he longed for something to make him stand out, for anything to help him ascend to his brothers' level. She could still remember his smile of sheer jubilation; the way his cheeks had glowed with the ecstasy of accomplishing something great. She had been elated at his new found abilities, and how excited he had been. Her happiness faltered, though, as his once modest qualities quickly evolved into pompous ones.

She had observed the changes with disregard at first, figuring his peremptory attitude would soon dissolve, once he had settled into this new atmosphere. It had to be quite an abrupt change, she assumed, going from an overlooked best friend of The Boy Who Lived, to extravagant well-known Quidditch Keeper. As the infamous trio's sixth year and new season commenced, many things were different. Ron only excelled further in the sport, having the confidence he lacked before. Many girls now flocked about him, and his group of friends expanded greatly. And so Hermione waited, because she just knew that his new arrogant demeanor would soon diminish.

And she waited. And she waited. And she waited a bit longer. And finally she was fed up.

The months passed, and he only got worse. The superior air about him grew, and the praises his fellow student body sent him certainly didn't help. He nevertheless remained close to the two he had befriended since first year, but the connection between him and Harry grew to a fuller extent. It was most likely the simultaneous love and ability concerning the sport that now dominated their lives, but it could have perhaps been the familiar fancy for the female population. Ron, who had never been even close to having a girlfriend, now had dozens. Literally. Hermione swore that once he even had two at once, but when she questioned him about it he just shrugged it off carelessly.

Hermione and Ron had always had an odd friendship. It was filled with many squabbles and rows, but at the end of the day they always appreciated one another, always knew the other would be there for them. Now, however, he treated her much different. Ron brushed her scolding comments off, and eventually turned to just ignoring her, rather than retort. For some odd reason this hurt Hermione. The remarks they had thrown back and forth seemed almost as if they were a game, something special between the two. At least, this is how she portrayed them. Now though, he treated her in a different respect. He acted almost as if she were inferior, and the brotherly love he had showed for her before all but disappeared. It wasn't the sort of demeaning a Pureblood would present to a Mudblood- Ron would never do that, no matter how much he'd changed. No, it was a more of a subtle thing. For instance, when he talked to Hermione, he did so with a bored tone, and with an expression maintaining disinterest. Though, however subtle this change was, it still hurt.

Her heart throbbed as she thought of the night of the Yule Ball. How, she had been so sure he had grown a fancy for her. The way his eyes had bugged out when he saw her new appearance, and his jealous expression as he watched Hermione arrive with Victor Krum. Yes, she had been certain.

Perhaps he had in fact liked her. But, no longer, that was for sure. Now he treated her almost as indifferent as the next student, his blushes and stammering vanished.

She couldn't stand the new Ronald Weasley. She missed her best friend horribly, and honestly wondered if they could ever act as they previously had.

A cool November wind blew across her face, bringing her back to reality. She looked up at the field, and saw the team gathered at the bottom of the pitch. She couldn't make out their faces, but could see the confident clasps Ron and Harry bestowed upon one another, as they headed off the field.

They were going to have to pass her, considering the tree was in the direct path back to Hogwarts. For a moment she thought about returning to the school before they walked by, avoiding any confrontations all together. This idea caused her heart to practically sink to her toes; had things gotten so bad she couldn't even talk to her best friends anymore? No, she told herself, things weren't _that_ different.

Harry and Ron's jubilant voices grew louder as the distance shortened between them.

Harry spotted Hermione first, and threw her a friendly smile. Ron turned to look in the direction he was glancing, and relief filled her as he appeared to send her an equally friendly response.

Hermione smiled broadly, and took a step towards them. "Hello," Harry greeted, as she fell into stride next to him. She nodded in response, and then looked expectantly over at Ron. He wasn't looking at her, but rather in the direction she had came.

As if he could feel her waiting eyes upon him, Ron turned towards her. "Oh, hi Hermione."

He shifted his gaze to where he was looking before, and a wide grin spanned across his face as a bubbly girl bounded up beside him. "Hello," he greeted the girl warmly, in much contrast to the cool welcome he had given Hermione.

Hermione stopped walking. Hurt enveloped her as realization hit- he hadn't been looking at her, but rather his latest girlfriend. The pain deepened, as Ron and Harry walked onward, not even noticing Hermione had stopped.

A/N: So, what'd you think? This is most likely only going to be a two or three chapter ficlet unless some miracle happens and I get free time to write this and my two other fics : ) I would really love feedback, so go on, and review!


	2. Common Room Confrontations

The Over-Sized Ego Returns  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own the wonderful words of J.K.Rowling  
  
A/N: Oh my gosh. I must be dreaming... 17 reviews for one chapter!? I have never, ever, EVER gotten that wonderful of a response before, and you really don't know how much it means to me. I thank you endlessly, you're all so grand! And... even though every ounce of common sense is telling me not to go further than a ficlet- I'm going to anyway : ) Ah, sleep is for suckers, right? It still won't be that long, but it won't be incredibly short either. Alright, alright, on with the story....  
  
"He swerves to the right, dodging a bludger, and diving toward the snitch! Not to be distracted, of course, Weasley blocks yet another goal, in fact... simultaneous with Potter's catch of the snitch!"  
  
At these words the majority of the stadium erupted into cheers, as students began pouring onto the field. The team in scarlet lowered their brooms, each donning grins of achievement. Harry reached the ground first, with Ron following right behind. They were soon engulfed by the cheering crowd, an occasional pump of the fist rising above their heads.  
  
The mass of cheering students moved almost as one, as they marched across the field and toward Hogwarts in triumph. Hermione watched from the nearly empty stadium, listening to the happy shouts of the students. Gathering her things, she skipped across the benches, until she finally met the ground.   
  
Up ahead she could see Ron celebrating with a smug grin. His expression disturbed her a little- it had changed so much since the first game he had won, when it was filled with pure joy. His confident stride toward the school was that of someone who had just conquered Mount Everest, and he swung an arm around some Ravenclaw, who was apparently praising him with compliments.  
  
Enough was enough.  
  
Sure she was happy for him. But, things had gotten way out of hand. She was surprised in herself, actually, that she could have let this tirade of arrogance go on for so long. Yes, it was certainly time for her to speak up, and speak up she would... tonight.  
  
  
  
Hermione stepped into the extremely noisy common room, where remnants of that night's victory party still lingered. She spotted Ron sitting on the couch along with a large number of sixth and seventh years. Apparently this party was for all houses (excluding Slytherin, of course) because there were several people she did not recognize. She had been planning to confront Ron after the party, when the number of occupants had dwindled down, but it had been going on for several hours and the party remained in full-swing. Deciding she would never be able to catch Ron with out a gaggle of followers, she took a deep breath and stepped up to him. All she had to do was ask him to step outside for a private chat, and that would prove to be very easy.  
  
Ron proved her wrong.  
  
"What?" he asked distractedly, laughing at a joke some Ravenclaw had apparently just made.  
  
"I was saying," Hermione was growing a bit impatient at having to repeat herself, "that we need to talk."  
  
Ron pulled his eyes away from the group he was casually chatting with. "Er.. we're talking right now, aren't we?"  
  
"No," Hermione amended, ignoring his less than friendly response, "I mean, er- alone."  
  
Ron leaned back onto the couch, and gave her a disinterested frown. "I'm a bit busy at the moment, actually." Several surrounding people snickered at the surprised look on Hermione's face.  
  
An enraged wave of emotion washed through her; she was shocked as it was easily identified as anger, instead of the hurt she would have expected.  
  
"Ronald Weasley," she demanded fiercely, hovering over him. "What is wrong with you?!"   
  
"What's wrong with me?" he asked coolly, raising a brow at the fuming girl. "I'm not the one going red in the face and sputtering like mad."  
  
"You're such, you're such a-" she began hotly, frustration muddling her words, "a pretentious idiot who cares about nothing and no one but himself!"  
  
"Okay then, Hermione," he said, giving a haughty sigh. "Now, just because you jealous, you don't have to-"  
  
"I am not jealous!" Hermione shouted, amazed at his incredible insolence. "I'm just fed up with the amount of arrogance that has recently filled your bombastic head!"  
  
Without waiting for a response she fled from the common room, her head spinning. She knew Ron had gotten bad, but this was outrageous.  
  
  
  
Hermione sat in the library, trying hard to concentrate on her Potions Essay. Sighing wearily at the hopeless attempt, she set the book down and stared out at the darkening sky. The act of going to the library, she had to admit, was to more than anything avoid Ron. The incident in the common room had rather shaken her- before she'd been sure all he needed was a good lecture. Now however, the chance of that wasn't very promising.  
  
Glancing over at her book, she reluctantly picked it up again and skimmed through the passages, accepting anything that would possibly divert her thoughts.  
  
"Hermione?" The voice startled her, causing her to drop the book and several parchments in surprise. She turned quickly around to see who had called her, and saw Harry's tentative face.  
  
She gave a slight smile in greeting, as she bent down to pick up the fallen objects. He walked over and knelt down, helping her gather the papers.  
  
"Thanks," she said, accepting the parchments from Harry, and setting them on the table.   
  
Harry nodded, and he took a seat beside her. "So, um- you alright?"  
  
Hermione gave a slight nod and looked back down at the table. "I'm fine."  
  
"Listen," said Harry, "I'm really sorry. I think I've been acting a bit.. different, too."  
  
Hermione shook her head. "That's alright. You haven't been that bad."  
  
Harry rested his arm on the table and frowned. "He just- he's not used to all the glory, you know? After a while, he'll... settle.."  
  
"After awhile?" she repeated, almost laughing. "It's practically been a year, Harry. How much longer does he need?"  
  
"Yeah, you're right," he agreed, nodding slowly. "I'll talk to him, alright?"  
  
Hermione gave a weak smile in response. "Thanks."  
  
  
  
"Hey Harry," Ron grinned, as Harry walked into their dormitory. "Where've you been? You missed a smashing party."  
  
Harry walked across the room, and nodded absently. "I went to the library."  
  
"The library?" Ron snorted. "What on earth did you go there for?"  
  
"Hermione."  
  
Ron's grin immediately disappeared. "What? Why?"  
  
"Well she seemed really upset, Ron," Harry started, walking across his room. "And I sort of think she's right-"  
  
"You think she's _right_?" Ron repeated, giving an astonished bark of laughter. "What do you mean, she's _right_?"  
  
"About what she said before, in the common room."  
  
"When she said we were arrogant?" He asked, giving a slight grin. "Eh, don't worry about it Harry. You're not arrogant. She was always one to babble endlessly about nonsense, wasn't she?"  
  
Harry frowned. As much as he agreed he had gotten carried away with conceit, he didn't recall Hermione yelling at him for being arrogant. Wasn't Ron affected at all?  
  
"Ron-"  
  
"Listen Harry," Ron said, lazily leaning back against his pillow. "Don't worry about her. We've got loads of other friends now, and we haven't had to hear one of her dragging lectures for ages. Bit of a relief, actually." Ron smiled at this and reached out to draw his bed-hangings. "Night Harry."  
  
Harry stared at his friend's curtain shielded bed in astonishment.   
  
He really _had_ changed.

A/N: Okay, I know, I know, Ron's still a complete git. Unfortunately, he will be for the majority of the story. But without a gittish Ron, there wouldn't be a fic afterall, eh? Don't worry, he'll come around... eventually ; )   
  
btw.. Hermione didn't attack him hard enough this chap, I know, but don't worry.. she surely will strike again... and I promise it'll be better.  
  
Thanks (again) for the reviews... I'd love for you to keep 'em coming!


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